The Garden Island: The historic Rice Street post office in Lihue, Hawaii, will be closing its doors. The U.S. Postal Service made the announcement Friday, after it spent nearly a year considering the decision. They did not give a date of the closure.

“It’s a shame, but I can see why they’re doing it, especially with the parking,” said Karen Pavao, of Kalaheo, who stopped by the post office on Friday afternoon to drop off some mail. “It’s convenient right here, especially coming from Kalaheo. It’ll be a change for everyone having to go out to the airport.”

It’s that limited parking that has Carol Jameson, Lihue, in support of the move.

“I’ve been thinking they should open up some space at the airport for a while and wondering why they haven’t,” she said. “It’ll make it a lot easier in that way (for parking), but it is sad. I hope they do something with the building, it’s historic.”

Pavao said she’d like to see the building re-purposed as well, and if not, she thinks the space would be ideal for a park.

“They really should do something with the building, it’s been a part of this community for a long time,” she said. “People have been coming here for many years.”

Friday, USPS announced its decision to proceed with its proposal to relocate postal services from the Rice street location to the Carrier Annex near the Lihue Airport.

“This decision is final,” the release said.

“We are disappointed with the postal service’s decision to close the Lihue post office,” said Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. Read more.

The U.S. Postal Service indefinitely closed the post office in Slovan, Penn., and is sending customers to Burgettstown in the meantime.

USPS spokesman Tad Kelley said the change will be in effect “while assessments are made to the condition of the building,” which is on Route 18 in Smith Township.

Because of “conditions that require corrective measures, and for the safety and comfort of our employees and postal patrons, operations at the building housing the Slovan Post Office have been temporarily suspended and moved to the Burgettstown Post Office, as there hasn’t been water to the building housing the Slovan Post Office for a period of time,” Kelley said in an email.

The Slovan office has more than 200 post office boxes, Kelley said. Customers, with proof of identification, can pick up their mail from the Burgettstown location, which is a little less than two miles away at 1602 Main St. Read more.

The former Alplaus, NY, post office was torn down this week, despite efforts by residents and town officials to save the historic structure.

The Alplaus Fire Dist. No. 2, which owns the property next to the fire station on Alplaus Avenue, decided to demolish the century-old building, which fire commissioners determined was structurally unsound and would have needed more than $250,000 of work to save.

“The district just did not have the money to rehabilitate the building,” said Andy Gilpin, chairman of the district’s fire commissioners. “We did our best to save the building, but we had to fall back to our last position, which was to demolish it.”

The two-story building at 311 Alplaus Ave. was built in about 1906 as a grocery store, but it saw a number of uses over the years, including being leased by the U.S. Postal Service for more than a half-century. But with post offices being consolidated, the Alplaus branch closed in 2012. Local mail delivery is now handled by the Rexford post office. Read more.

ithaca.com: The Jacksonville, NY, Post Office is a small, unassuming building that you wouldn’t know was there until it was pointed out to you. But to many neighbors in Jacksonville it is a community cornerstone. Recently, rumors have begun to spread that the post office will soon be closing its doors, and residents are worried about the impact this might have locally. Currently, the post office is in lease negotiations with the property owners, Blue Ox Energy. The current lease is up at the end of December.

Blue Ox Energy also owns and operates the Valero gas station next to the post office. David Martin, Vice President of Blue Ox, said he believes the property was acquired in the mid-1990s, and when the company bought the gas station the post office came with it. Martin said he has seen these negotiations for many years and they are often a cumbersome process.

“We don’t want to upset the neighborhood,” Martin said. “A third party represents the post office and each time the lease ran out they lowered the offer they were willing to pay, and increased expenses we would have to pay.” Martin said the expenses that Blue Ox, as the landowners, pay are usually maintenance type stuff, and as the building gets older the maintenance gets more expensive….

Karen Mazurkiewicz, spokesperson for United States Postal Service for western New York, said that it is her understanding that USPS is taking steps to renew the lease, but if the post office were to close the community wouldn’t be left stranded. If the post office were to close USPS would put together an emergency suspension. Read more.

THV11.com: Neighbors in the Heights community of Little Rock, Arkansas, have been very upset the last few days after hearing from their letter carriers that the area’s post office may close.

The U.S. Postal Service rents the Forest Park Station property at 5420 Kavanaugh Boulevard from a local business man. The lease is coming up, and there were questions and concerns about whether or not the Postal Service would renew that lease, because the cost is also up.

“People move into this area of town because of the amenities it has. Having a great post office with good staff is certainly important to people,” said Norman Hodges, President of the Heights Neighborhood Association. “For all the businesses, the residents, what have you, it is a very busy office. If you’ve ever been around here and looked very much, it is constantly busy, so it would be a real detriment.”

That group has appealed to local, state, and even national leaders to help them save the post office. Read more.

fox4kc: Most of us have heard the post office motto: neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night keeps mail carriers from their appointed rounds, but when it comes to people who have post office boxes at the Country Club Station in Brookside (a neighborhood of Kansas City, MO), something is stopping them from getting their mail.

There is a sign on the door notifying customers that the U.S. Postal Service has implemented an emergency suspension on the Country Club Station location, directing folks to the Waldo location on Gregory Boulevard.

Some people took the news in stride, while others are upset about the changes….

Dean Petrus who also has a P.O. Box in Brookside went to the Waldo location to find out what is going on.

“They told me that they are moving all of the post office boxes from this location to the Gregory location. In fact, they were doing that while I was there,”Petrus said. “All of the post office boxes for zip code 64114 are being moved to Martin City at 135th Street.”…

A spokesperson with the Postal Service could not confirm the Waldo boxes will be moved to Martin City.

The U.S.P.S sent out the following statement regarding the Country Club Station Post Office closure: “As a result of a recent safety inspection at the leased facility, retail and delivery services located at the Country Club Station have been moved to the Waldo Post Office located at 119 W. Gregory St. 1.1 miles away. There is no time table for reopening at his time.”

According to the news video, the building has apparently suffered water damage and perhaps a mold problem. Read more.